The Islamic Calendar · Rajab
لَيْلَةُ الرَّغَائِب
Laylat al-Raghāʾib — The Night of Wishes
The eve of the first Friday of Rajab — kept on the Thursday night preceding it.
Next: the night of Friday 11 December 2026
About this Night
Laylat al-Raghāʾib — “the Night of Wishes” — falls on the eve of the first Friday of Rajab, the opening of the three sacred months of Rajab, Shaʿbān and Ramaḍān. It marks the conception of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Because the night in the Islamic day begins at sunset, this blessed night is kept on the Thursday evening that leads into the first Friday of the month.
Many of the pious of past generations honoured it as one of the seasons in which the servant turns to Allah with hope, seeking His bounty at the threshold of the sacred months. It is a night for repentance, for asking, and for renewing one’s intention before Rajab unfolds.
What to Do on this Night
Keep the night alive after the Thursday sunset with worship as you are able:
- Fast the first Friday of Rajab, or intend to fast in the sacred month, if that is within your strength and health.
- Spend the evening in ṣalāh, remembrance and quiet supplication, seeking forgiveness and turning the heart toward Allah.
- Make sincere tawbah and renew your resolve for the sacred months of Rajab, Shaʿbān and Ramaḍān that now begin.
- Give in charity and send abundant blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ.
Keep to worship that is established in the Sunnah — nightly prayer, Qurʾān, dhikr and duʿāʾ — and hold to moderation, without burdening yourself beyond what you can sustain.
What to Recite
- Abundant ṣalawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ through the night.
- Istighfār — seeking Allah’s forgiveness — and the Sayyid al-Istighfār.
- Recitation of the Qurʾān, especially Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq and al-Nās, and Sūrat Yā-Sīn.
- The dhikr of Subḥān Allāh, al-ḥamdu li-Llāh and Lā ilāha illā Llāh, and duʿāʾ for oneself, one’s family and the Ummah.